Late wickets from the Southern Stars dragged England back into a contest on the opening day of the Women's Ashes test.
After Heather Knight won the toss and batted, Tammy Beaumont and captain Knight took full advantage of a good surface to register half centuries as England closed the day 235-7.
The tourists didn't have it all their own way however, as Lauren Winfield had her run scoring dried up and was eventually dismissed for 4.
The pair put on 104 for the second wicket as Beaumont made her way to a solid 70, kicked on by her skipper with Knight (62) playing fluently despite some excellent Australian bowling in unfavorable conditions.
Both looked good to make hundreds when Beaumont edged debutant Amanda-Jade Wellington to slip, while Knight was lbw sweeping Jess Jonassen's left-arm spin less than seven overs later.
From there the English middle-order couldn't find any fluency, Georgia Elwiss (27), Nat Sciver (18) and Sarah Taylor (29) all making solid starts and failing to kick on.
Of the three, Taylor's wicket is the most likely to hurt her side, coming less than 6 overs before the close of play but with Fran Wilson at the crease, the tourists still have a chance of scoring 270/280 in this first innings.
However the consistent quality of the Australian bowling always kept them in the game, in particular Megan Schutt who despite going wicketless, dried up the scoring rate especially after Beaumont and Knight had been dismissed.
Jess Jonassen also impressed, bowling 31 overs in the day to take 2-52 as scoring options were limited heavily for the batsmen.
 |
| Tammy Beaumont and Heather Knight made half-centuries on day one of the Womens Ashes Test |
Both looked good to make hundreds when Beaumont edged debutant Amanda-Jade Wellington to slip, while Knight was lbw sweeping Jess Jonassen's left-arm spin less than seven overs later.
From there the English middle-order couldn't find any fluency, Georgia Elwiss (27), Nat Sciver (18) and Sarah Taylor (29) all making solid starts and failing to kick on.
Of the three, Taylor's wicket is the most likely to hurt her side, coming less than 6 overs before the close of play but with Fran Wilson at the crease, the tourists still have a chance of scoring 270/280 in this first innings.
However the consistent quality of the Australian bowling always kept them in the game, in particular Megan Schutt who despite going wicketless, dried up the scoring rate especially after Beaumont and Knight had been dismissed.
Jess Jonassen also impressed, bowling 31 overs in the day to take 2-52 as scoring options were limited heavily for the batsmen.
Comments
Post a Comment